This weekend saw the launch of yet another Open Streets event modeled on the successes of similar car-free street events in cities like Bogotá, Portland, Los Angeles, and Detroit.

But what was slightly different this time was the size of the town involved. Owosso sits in the middle of Michigan agricultural land and has a population of just over 15,000 people.

Organized through the Owosso Main Street Promotions and Outreach Committee, Open Streets Owosso looked and felt just like any big city open streets event: streets blocked off from automobile traffic for people to enjoy the public commons on bike, on foot, on skateboard, anything human powered.

From the event page: “Currently over 200 cities worldwide have established on-going and highly popular Open Streets events. The recent surge in cities creating temporary street parks is widely credited to Ciclovía, a weekly event in Bogotá, Colombia that opens over 70 of miles of city streets to citizens for outdoor physical activity. This event beginning in the mid-1970s and continues to this day with tremendous success attracting up to 2 million participants weekly.”

Detroit’s route stitched together two of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods: Corktown and Mexicantown, running in a single strip down Michigan ave with a slight jog onto Vernor. Along the route were your typical event staples like bouncy castles, foursquare, art making, and children exploring their newfound streetscape.

Businesses enjoyed a splurge of foot traffic, and utilized the additional space on many blocks by extending their merchandise beyond the confines of the narrow sidewalk. No longer constrained by cars, sidewalk chalk could be seen everywhere, containing everything from kids’ drawings to anti-gentrificaion slogans to quickly washed-off vulgarities.